The business of Spring on the Farm has begun!
We are in the middle of hatching season here at The Old Five Notch Farm and are pleased with our hatches of Golden Laced Wyandottes and Guinea keets so far this year. We love hatching out babies and really enjoy meeting new farm folks when the come out to pick up there new babies.
It is so great to see more and more families returning to the ways of old where people grew their own food, raised their own animals and enjoyed the simpler life. I think we will see more people returning to this lifestyle as we realize we are responsible for our own families and need to take charge of how we feed ourselves and where and how our food is being grown and processed. It is nice to share information with new people and help educate others in the process.
Here are a few of our hatchlings from this season.
 |
| One of the Golden Laced Wyandottes striking a pose! |
 |
| The newest gang...playing king of the lamby! Notice the "mommy" feathers....this gives them somewhere to hide and feel secure. |
 |
| The little keet to the left is a buff, the one facing the camera is a royal purple, the one next to him is a buff and the little wet one turned out to be a buff as well. Curious, crazy little birds <3 |
Our garden is coming along nicely! We have harvested a few strawberries....never enough according to The Farmer Man!, and now the peas are starting to come in.
 |
| A wall of peas!!! |
We have planted several different successions of green beans so we will have green beans coming in all summer. Green beans are one of our favorite veggies so we are going to can as many as possible for this next year.
 |
| Two rows of square of green beans in the front and two more in the back that were planted 2 weeks apart. |
Unfortunately, the other thing that Spring brings is hungry predators. They are doing their best to feed themselves and their families as well. We are a release site for
Izzie's Pond Wildlife Rescue for rehabbed Canada Geese and Mallard Ducks and do our best to help them and take care of them once they are released here. Unfortunately, we cannot keep them all safe from predators since the cannot be penned or contained.
This beautiful guy below is "Ducky Dude". "Ducky Dude" is now a TWO time survivor of a predator attack. Last year something grabbed him by this leg tearing the tendon's in the left leg. He healed up, but didn't have full use of his foot. He learned how to flip his foot forward to walk on the bottom of the foot like he should. It is amazing how quickly animals adapt.
He had a buddy aka "Buddy Duck" who hung out with him since the only other Mallard Drake was top duck and has all the girls.
Saturday
morning we found "Ducky Dude" sitting in the edge of the woods when we
went down to feed. I noticed he didn't move and then noticed
flies....flies are not good. Scott helped me capture him because when I
tried to get him he flew across and into the pond. His wings weren't
apparently affected! When Scott caught him on land once again just a
short while later he brought him up to the house to the Tater Memorial
ICU for treatment. Upon examination we found that the poor boy had been
attacked once again on the left foot! In a way, it is a blessing it was
his left foot again because had it been his right he may have had to be
put down. "Ducky Dude" is now in the ICU with pain meds, anitbiotics, meds for fly strike, a
new bandage changed out everyday and has aready shown signs of
healing. I fully expect him to make a good recovery and be back out on
the pond again soon. We will have to see how this leg heals this time
and how well he gets around.
The sad thing is "Buddy
Duck" and one of the hens are missing. We are praying that "Buddy Duck"
and the hen flew off during the attack and will return in the next few
day. "Ducky Dude" will be lost without "Buddy Duck". It took this
photo the day before the attack.
 |
| "Buddy Duck" on the left, two tail curls and "Ducky Dude" on the right, one tail curl. |
It is difficult to know their are predators we cannot keep them from, but we do what we can and help when it is needed. We will keep you posted about "Ducky Dudes" progress.
The flip side of how cruel nature can be is how beautiful nature can be! We have a pair of wild Canada Geese who flew into our pond on their own a couple of years ago. They adopted the very first gaggle of juvenile Canad geese we release here at The Old Five Notch Farm and taught them how to be geese, and how to watch out for predators. We affectionately named the wild pair, "Hissy", the gander and "Prissy" the goose. They have returned every year and helped raise each new gaggle of geese. This year they disappeared at breeding season which isn't unusual....but this year they returned a week or so ago with five new goslings of their own! These were taken April 27th.
 |
| Mom and Dad taking the goslings to the pond for the first time <3 Notice dad akd "Hissy" doing what he is known for! |
 |
| The family enjoying their first meal at The Old Five Notch Farm |
 |
| Mom resting with the five goslings while dad took a dip. |
 |
| This little cutey came within just a few feet of us! |
They stayed the night on the pond, but the next day Mom and Dad decided to move to another pond. I worried about them and said a prayer for those cute goslings. Unfortunately, all five probably won't make it to adult hood since it is estimated that only half make it adulthood.
We were thrilled when they returned to the pond this past week, but we were also disappointed to only see three goslings with mom and dad, The three remaining are growing well and really have taken to the water. Here's the family as of this past Saturday, May 16th....just look how much they have grown!
 |
| Dad "Hissy" warning me to to get too close the babies as they were following me down to the pond from the field. |
 |
| They are just too adorable! Growing quickly, |
 |
| Mom "Prissy" and two of the babies picking up sand to help digestion |
 |
| The whole family on the pond....it was a beautiful site! |
The family stayed two days and are once again off to a different pond. I pray when they return that all three of the remaining goslings are with them. Geese are very family oriented and these two deserve a nice family of their own for all the work they have done with all the rescued, and rehabbed geese they have helped.
I will be taking more pictures this week so look for a Friday Farm Foto post on Friday!
God bless and remember....." Thanksgiving Always Precedes the Blessing" - Author Ann Voskamp
What are you thankful for today?
